2014NOVDEC

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W hat prompted J. Edgar Hoover to establish in the sum- mer of 1935 what is known today as the FBI National Academy? It was in response to a study by the Wickersham Com- mission that recommended the standardization and professional- ization of state and local LE departments using centralized train- ing. This concept found immediate support from the IACP and DOJ, as well as funding by the US Congress. The first school of instructions for state and local police of- ficers was called the Police Training School and was probably housed in Main Justice, a DOJ building located in Washington, DC. There were just 23 police officers in attendance. by guest author Gil Kleinknecht A Look Back at FBI NA History THE HISTORIAN’S SPOTLIGHT The first instructors and lecturers used by the FBI were well- known criminologists and law professors recruited, for example, from Harvard, Yale, and Northwestern. The NA also utilized state and local LE police officials as well as executives from the private sector. After several years the name was changed from the Police Training School to the FBI National Academy. For 37 years, 1935 to 1972, training classes where held most- ly in the Main Justice building. For the last 42 years the NA has been located at the Quantico Marine Corps base. The move was in June 1972. The training program, which is recognized worldwide, has changed a lot over the past nearly 80 years. For many years em- phasis was on the fundamentals of police work such as latent fin- gerprint examination, fingerprint classification, criminal laws, and firearms proficiency. Today the NA trains men and women to become future police managers and executives. Since 1935 the NA has offered 257 sessions and graduated 47,492 police officers. In 1964, this executive training was ex- tended to international police executives. So far over 3,000 inter- national officers have completed the NA, with 558 still in active service. Forty-five years ago, in 1969, when I was only 32 years old, I had the privilege to be a member of the 84th session which held classes in the Main Justice building. The FBI HQs was in the same building, and J. Edgar Hoover was the Director. Our single Here are the key subjects taught beginning in 1935: • Scientific aids in crime detection • Preparation of reports • Criminal investigation techniques, and • Administration and organization • With the advent of WWII, courses were added in espionage and sabotage

classroom was located, I believe, on the third floor across the hall from the new agents’ classroom. There were just two sessions each year, with 100 attendees per session. Each member was required to wear a suit and tie each day. It was not unusual to see a fellow class member wearing the same suit and tie day after day. The single NA classroom or Wind Tunnel was very unusual. I believe it has been used as a courtroom to try some war criminals or communists. Our classroom was very long and narrow, with 7 old wooden school desks in each row, and 15 or more rows deep. The session was for 12 weeks, and at the end of the 6th week, those members in the back rows would move to the front of the classroom, and the front section moved to the back of the room. With this move each member has a chance to hear the lectur- ers for at least 6 weeks. As my name started with K, and we Ks being in the middle of the alphabet, we did not have to move. My wife and my one year old son and dog came to DC with me and stayed in a rented apartment in Alexandria Va. Each day I rode a public bus to the Main Justice building. We were allowed to eat lunch downstairs in the cafeteria, but were told not to talk to the DOJ or FBI secretaries. If we were found socializing with a secretary, we would be sent home. Should we call for the elevator at the end of the day, and Director Hoover was in the elevator, we were instructed to wait and take the next elevator. There was a wonderful gym and locker room in the basement. As I recall, 2-3 times a week we had to participate in physical training, including self-defense techniques. However, only half the class could attend at one time due to the limited size of the gym. The other problem was that there were only 4 shower heads for our use after exercise. So, 50 men would wait in 4 lines to use 4 shower heads. When it was your turn, you would just get wet, and go to the back of the line. While waiting in line again the time was used to lather up with soap. When it was your turn, we used the shower water to rinse off the soap. It was it was an experi- ence just like Army basic training. As no females were attending the NA in 1969, no one was embarrassed.

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